Trump says US forces seized an Iranian-flagged vessel in the Strait of Hormuz

[0:00] U.S. President Donald Trump says American forces have seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship near [0:05] the Strait of Hormuz. It is the first of such incidents since the U.S. military imposed a [0:11] naval blockade on Iranian's southern coast, forbidding ships to head to and from Iranian [0:17] ports. So in a post on True Social, President Trump said this, quote, [0:22] Today, an Iranian-flagged cargo ship named Tuska, nearly 900 feet long and weighing almost as much [0:28] as an aircraft carrier, tried to get past our naval blockade, and it did not go well for them. [0:33] The U.S. Navy-guided missile destroyer USS Spruance intercepted the Tuska in the Gulf of Oman and gave [0:40] them fair warning to stop. The Iranian crew refused to listen, so our Navy ships stopped them right in [0:45] their tracks by blowing a hole in the engine room. Right now, U.S. Marines have control or custody of [0:52] the vessel. The Tuska is under U.S. Treasury sanctions because of their prior history of [0:58] illegal activity. We have full custody of the ship and are seeing what's on board. [1:04] Now, you can see the ship in question here on this tracker of marine shipping around the Strait of [1:09] Hormuz. Most ships are not passing through the waterway due to the conflict. Iran said it was [1:15] closing the route on Friday after briefly reopening it the day before. So, Rosalyn, I mean, this is the [1:23] first time that we've heard of any U.S. or of the U.S. Navy, excuse me, taking custody of a ship during this [1:30] blockade of Iranian ports. What more do you know? This has not been confirmed by CENTCOM, which is the part of [1:37] the U.S. military that operates military operations in the greater Middle East. This is only coming from the U.S. [1:44] President and who ostensibly may be talking about a situation that is still at this hour classified. That said, [1:52] what we do know about the Tuska is that it is part of an official Iranian government shipping company [2:00] and that shipping company has long been under U.S. sanctions. And so all of the vessels, all of the [2:06] assets are similarly sanctioned, not allowed to travel to countries that do relations with the [2:14] United States without those countries facing themselves the possibility of secondary sanctions. [2:20] We don't know how many people are on board. We don't know whether any people on board the ship [2:24] were injured. We don't know whether if, in fact, U.S. Marines have taken control of the vessel, whether [2:30] any of them have been injured or killed during this incident. This is simply all coming right now. [2:36] From the U.S. President's personal social media operation. [2:40] Okay, Rosalyn, sit tight for a second. Let's bring in Ali Hashim, who's in Tehran. So, Ali, [2:44] this obviously could be a very big deal. Are we getting any reaction from Iran on this thus far? [2:54] Well, just a few minutes ago, President Trump tweeted about this, or maybe an hour ago. [3:00] For the moment, we don't have any reaction from the Iranians. Actually, for the moment, [3:04] we don't have even any official reaction aside from the sources on the U.S. reports on the U.S. [3:14] presidents saying that there is going to be talks in Islamabad. So, it seems that the Iranian officials, [3:22] for the moment, are taking a kind of a mute position till there is something clear with respect to all [3:31] these issues. This is, of course, a development and a development that could rise to a violation of [3:40] the ceasefire, maybe, from the Iranian point of view. But at the end, this all comes at a time when [3:47] the Iranians and the Americans are in the middle of a moment where there's a crossroads. Either [3:54] they're heading towards a deal, an agreement, sitting together on the same table, or with only [4:02] few days left on the ceasefire, maybe back to escalation. So, Ali, you've got lots of new [4:08] reporting out of Tehran right now. The Iranian side obviously rejecting this second round of [4:13] negotiations because they want that U.S. blockade lifted. I wonder what more your sources are telling [4:18] you at this stage. Well, actually, we have now a line coming from Meher News Agency on your first [4:30] question on the ship. So, let me just read it immediately from the channel. Please. [4:37] Response of the IRGC Navy to the shooting by U.S. forces at an Iranian commercial ship. The swift [4:43] reaction of the IRGC Navy following the shooting by U.S. terrorist forces at an Iranian commercial [4:50] ship near the Sea of Oman caused the Americans to retreat and flee. According to information received [4:56] by Meher reporter today, in response to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and the return [5:02] of Indian and British commercial ships, as well as the control measures by the Islamic Revolution [5:07] regards, the U.S. terrorist forces stationed in the waters around the Sea of Oman fired at an [5:14] Iranian commercial ship to force it to return towards Iranian territorial waters. With the timely [5:19] presence and quick reaction of the IRGC Navy units in support of the Iranian ship, the Americans [5:25] were compelled to retreat and leave the area. So, what they are saying here is that the ship [5:31] hasn't been confiscated. Now, are we here talking about the same ship? Is it the same Tuska that [5:39] President Trump mentioned or not? Then I think this is what we are going to know maybe in the coming [5:46] hours. Let me get back to the talks in Islamabad. Sorry for the ins and outs. No, that's okay. Sorry, [5:52] Ali, just on this point. Can you just clarify before we get to the talk? So, they did not name, [5:57] again, I don't have it in front of me. I'm just listening to you reading it. So, [6:00] they did not name the ship in this question. So, could be talking about the Tuska, [6:05] could be talking about something else, correct? Maybe, yeah. They're talking about an incident, [6:11] the same geography. They're saying the Sea of Oman, the American Navy shot on it. But over here, [6:19] they're saying that the intervention of the IRGC Navy led to the Americans to retreat and the ship to [6:27] get back. So, this is at least the narrative that we're reading from Mayer News Agency. [6:34] Okay. On the talks now. Yeah, please. What do we know about the talks? [6:38] On the talks, yeah. Well, you know, we've not heard from any official by name immediately. We heard from [6:49] sources. Sources were telling us. So, now we're hearing from Iran's ambassador to Pakistan, [6:55] who says, you cannot continue repeatedly violating international law, doubling your blockade, [7:02] threatening Iran with more war crimes, insisting on your illogical demands, making grandiose statements, [7:09] and pretending that you are seeking diplomacy. So, the Iranian ambassador to Pakistan says, [7:14] as long as the naval blockade remains, the lines of disagreement will also remain. This just confirms [7:20] what we reported earlier, that the Iranians aren't going to take part, except if the naval blockade is [7:28] going to be lifted from, on Iran. So, this is one. Also, we heard from several other sources we've been [7:36] reporting on. But most importantly, in the past hour, the Iranian president, Masoud Bezeshkian, [7:43] had a phone call with the Pakistani prime minister. [7:48] Bezeshkian told the prime minister of Pakistan, the continuation of treachery and America's behavior [7:54] based on force and intimidation during negotiations and the ceasefire period, [7:59] and the continuation of provocative and illegal actions is what is called, in what is called the [8:04] naval blockade of Iran, reveals this truth more than ever, which is that America seeks to repeat [8:11] previous patterns and betray diplomacy. So, the Iranians actually are very concerned, [8:16] and they've told us, actually several sources have told us this, that they are concerned this could [8:23] end with another deception. Whereas, the Iranians will be seeking diplomacy, we will want to go to [8:32] Islamabad to meet, and then the end of the ceasefire will mean the United States restarting the war. [8:40] This is one of the main concerns, and that's why the Iranians, still the moment, are very skeptical. [8:44] Today, there was a meeting by the National Security Council, Supreme National Security Council to decide. [8:50] But we don't know what was the final decision. But it's clear that what we were hearing from our sources, [8:57] and what the president said, and what the ambassador to Pakistan says, they're all in the same circle. [9:03] Yeah, and of course, it's important to remind our viewers that, save for the last round of talks in Islamabad, [9:08] the previous two rounds of talks ended with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iranian territory. [9:14] Ali, let's go back to Rosalind for a second. So, Rosalind, you have the Iranians saying, [9:21] they're not going, unless this blockade is lifted. President Trump has not truth socialed anything [9:28] about the talks, instead talking about this ship. So, for all intents and purposes, again, correct me [9:35] if I'm wrong, the Americans are going. Do we know who they are sending, and maybe what they've got planned? [9:41] Well, we don't know exactly what the U.S. delegation will be taking back to Islamabad, [9:48] given that the talks broke down last week over the fact that, according to the Americans, [9:54] the Iranians would not give up their nuclear program, whether for civilian or for military [10:00] purposes, unless there was substantial outside supervision of what the Iranians were doing. [10:08] We do understand that the U.S. Vice President, J.D. Vance, will be leading the delegation. [10:12] The president's special envoy, Steve Whitcoff, as well as the president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, [10:18] will be a part of the delegation. But as has been reported before, there is no trust in either [10:25] Whitcoff or Kushner at this point by the Iranians. There is ostensibly the idea that perhaps the vice [10:32] president may have established some minimal level of trust, such that they were willing to actually [10:39] negotiate for nearly 21, 22 hours during that last meeting in Islamabad. But what the U.S. is taking [10:48] in order to convince the Iranians that they are coming in good faith is a very good question. There's [10:54] been no indication. In fact, there's been every indication to the contrary that the U.S. is prepared [11:00] to double down on its blockade of Iranian vessels, both military and commercial, [11:06] coming through the Strait of Hormuz, preventing all commercial traffic in and out of Iranian ports. [11:12] And when you consider that the Iranians, for example, earn 80 percent of their export income [11:19] globally because of their oil shipments to other countries, primarily to China, this is a significant [11:26] amount of economic pressure on Tehran to comply with Washington's demands. So we don't know what [11:33] the U.S. is offering as a so-called olive branch, but they do have a delegation on their way to Islamabad [11:40] at this hour. Okay, Rosalind Jordan for us there in Washington, Ali Hashim for us in Tehran. We [11:46] appreciate the reporting. Please keep us posted. Thank you.